Much like the Reaping on The Hunger Games or the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter, this week the HGs on Big Brother 16 decided to leave their decisions up to fate. In the most random and unintended bit of product placement ever, a bag of Skittles decides the nominations instead of the HoHs, because this season isn’t already embarrassing enough with the lame Battle of the Block twist and a powerhouse alliance with no real opposition.
We also get to see a stark contrast between Frankie and the rest of Team America in both the HoH letters and the way they handle winning the Battle of the Block by themselves. Yes, there’s another attempt to throw the BotB, but this time, Frankie is completely OK with it. You might think he’d have more sympathy after last week, but you’d be wrong.
The HoHs
Caleb knows that the Bomb Squad is in charge and hopes Donny and Victoria are their two targets. Derrick has other ideas, telling us he doesn’t want either to go home, but he’ll pretend to play ball. Donny is upset that he could be going on the block for the fifth time, meaning he’s forgotten that he’s already been up five times and this would be his sixth (maybe he blacked out during the double eviction and forgot that it happened).
Cody wants Zach to go up with Donny and throw the competition and Caleb doesn’t want to go on the block again because he’s already done so much. Derrick says nothing and passes the buck, wanting everyone else in the Bomb Squad to make the decisions as a group. But first they decide to tell Victoria she’s definitely safe this week, just to get her off their backs. She is, of course, completely in love with Derrick.
The HoHs agree that they won’t backdoor each other and Derrick will stay HoH. Frankie tells us that he trusts Derrick 110 percent. Frankie points out that Cody has never been nominated, but that worries Derrick because he has a Final 2 deal with him.
Derrick prepares Donny to go up and tells him that he wants to find a way to keep him here without making it obvious since everyone else in his alliance wants him gone. Donny isn’t so sure he’s not the target. And neither am I, despite what Derrick tells us. I find it hard to believe that Derrick wants Donny in his Final 5.
Ariana Grande’s HoH Room
Frankie freaks out because there’s a picture of his sister in his HoH room. Zach calls Ariana a “smoke bomb” and adds “Goodbye Zankie, hello Zariana.” Caleb loves her too and Frankie is worried that his sister just got a stalker.
Derrick’s letter is all about how his 18-month daughter has started saying “No” a lot. It’s so sweet. Then Frankie reads his letter which is all about how his family is proud of his BoB win and how Ariana is opening at the VMAs. That’s a huge contrast in family events.
Team America
Their new mission is to steal an article of clothing from each HG and then organize a neighborhood watch program for 24 hours to keep it from happening again. Derrick the cop is happy to be a thief for once without hurting anyone. As always, Derrick and Frankie figure out everything they’re going to steal by themselves without including Donny.
May the Skittles Be Ever in Your Favor
Once Donny and Victoria go to bed, the six members of the Bomb Squad meet in the HoH room to discuss the nominations. The plan is for Donny to go on the block with someone who will lose against two other alliance members. Victoria will be the replacement option if Donny wins the PoV.
Zach says that he doesn’t want to throw the competition. Christine and Cody agree while Caleb says he just did it last week. Frankie is desperate for someone to volunteer to throw it, but no one will.
The whole situation with last week gets brought up again about Caleb trying to throw the competition to get Frankie out and how everyone wanted Zach gone before. Zach feels like everyone is targeting him. Since no one will volunteer, they decide to pick Skittles out of a hat.
Zach is orange, Cody is red, Caleb is green and Christine is purple. Purple is chosen first, so Christine has to throw the competition on the block with Donny. She’s not happy. Then they pick red and green, so Cody and Caleb are the other nominees. They are not happy.
Zach thinks that everything is wonderful because his Skittle wasn’t picked. Clearly he doesn’t remember when President Snow changed the rules of the Quarter Quell to screw over Katniss.
Afterwards, Caleb, Cody and Derrick start plotting about how Zach should be evicted before Victoria and Christine. Derrick is extremely happy to hear this. They bash Zach because he doesn’t have their backs when they have kept him safe. I guess they’re going to pretend that those many, many days when they were going to evict him never happened.
The next morning, Derrick and Frankie tell Donny that Victoria is the target and that they picked Skittles to decide the nominations, lying that Donny’s Skittle was chosen. Donny is worried because they use the word “we” a lot and that means that Derrick and Frankie are working with the rest of the house. He also knows that he’s expendable and Derrick and Frankie know that he’s not buying their story at all.
Strange Love
We get a little more Zankie action, with Zach asking “Does it make me gay if I’m in love with a homosexual?” Frankie just wants him to come out already so they can explore that issue together.
Elsewhere, we finally get a segment about how Cody is flirting with Christine, who is married, and everyone thinks it’s bizarre. There are a whole lot of close-ups of Christine and Cody rubbing and touching each other. Christine tells us that she’s just flirting to try and win the game.
The Nominations
Derrick nominates Donny and Christine, lying about how this gives them a chance to save themselves for the week.
Frankie nominates Caleb and Cody, saying that their “amazing abs, perky pecs, sensual smiles and bubble buttocks” have driven him wild all season long. And he picked their candies out of a hat.
What’s the point of us watching and caring about this show if none of them are going to take this game seriously at all? Donny gets in a few funny zingers about Cody’s bad singing and flatulence while Christine hopes that the boys respect that she is doing even more of their dirty work.
The Battle of the Block
The competition requires the two pairs to enter a spooky pitch black box and feel their way around to collect bones and return five to their respective scoreboards. Not all bones will fit and they can only take one at a time.
Caleb and Cody stick together while Donny and Christine split up. Since it’s completely dark, Christine can easily throw it. She even finds a bone and gives it to Caleb.
After Donny gets his fourth bone and Christine has done nothing, he realizes she’s throwing it so he’s all alone. Magically, Donny finds his fifth bone and wins the Battle of the Block by himself. He falls to the floor and thanks Jesus, quietly to himself. That’s a much different reaction from when Frankie won it by himself.
He walks outside and everyone is truly shocked to learn that Donny (and Christine) won. Derrick is dethroned and not happy because his fellow Hitman Cody and the loyal Caleb are on the block. Frankie is also upset because two members of his alliance are nominated. It’s really confusing because they tell us they wanted to keep Donny, but they’re upset that he’s safe. If they genuinely wanted Donny to stay, wouldn’t they both be happy about this outcome?
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(Image courtesy of CBS)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
